TRO Preventing Contract Terminations At USAID Will Continue: DC Judge, Overnight.

February 14, 2025February 14, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

The New York state governmental parties have shown the Manhattan USDC Judge the latest opinion entered as an extended TRO in DC, overnight — as added authority for this afternoon’s dial in hearing (2 PM EST). [I’ll be off-grid, but you can catch it from the court’s home page.] The losses are unending, for Tangerine 2.0, it seems.

Here’s that latest opinion — Trump is now about 1-20, with only the allowance of his “voluntary severance offer” having survived a TRO motion in one court. His other would-be “mandatory closures” orders are all essentially in mothballs. This is how checks and balances work:

…[T]here has been no explanation offered in the record, let alone a “satisfactory explanation… including a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made,” as to why reviewing programs — many longstanding and taking place pursuant to contractual terms — required an immediate and wholesale suspension of appropriated foreign aid….

[The Tangerine 2.0 attempt at] implementation of the blanket suspension is likely arbitrary and capricious given the apparent failure to consider immense reliance interests, including among businesses and other organizations across the country. No aspect of the implemented policies or submissions offered by Defendants at the hearing suggests they considered and had a rational basis for disregarding the massive reliance interests of the countless small and large businesses that would have to shutter programs or shutter their businesses altogether and furlough or lay off swaths of Americans in the process….

Defendants’ argument also presupposes that this is an area where the President has exclusive authority and runs into Plaintiffs’ contention that the President was acting in violation of the separation of powers because he “does not have unilateral authority to refuse to spend the funds” Congress appropriates. In re Aiken County, 725 F.3d 255, 261 n.1 (D.C. Cir. 2013)….

Onward. Be excellent to one another — I’m out!

नमस्ते

Gee! — A GOP Gov. Of A Former Slaveholding State — Openly Denying The Fourteenth Amendment’s Commands?! Who Could Possibly Have Imagined… THAT?!

February 13, 2025February 13, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

I mark this only to make plain… just how completely the MAGAts are willing to debase themselves, their oaths, and their… states, to lick the boots of Tangerine 2.0.

Out in Washington State, the State Government of… Tennessee has officially filed an amicus brief — to oppose the continuation of birthright citizenship. [Tangerine 2.0 has already lost on a preliminary injunction, so Gov. Lee’s brief is filed in the Ninth Cir., as part of the appeals.]

That clause (called “birthright“) was a direct response to Dred Scott, and abomination of the rule of 3/5^th of a person, for counting enslaved persons, in state by state apportionments — prior to the Civil War.

Thus the express language of the Fourteenth Amendment made people born here… full citizens, by the mere fact of… birth, on US soil.

MAGA / GOP Governor Bill Lee beclowns his state, and more importantly, the vast majority of his fine citizens… by arguing to return to the Antebellum South, for Tangerine’s “all the greater glory“.

I think I’ll let some key people inside the Volunteer State know about this. I suspect it is being done largely in a hush-hush fashion.

Time for it to be on the TV Nightly News, in Nashville, Memphis and even Knoxville, now.

Stay tuned.

Out.

So It’s… Kennedy, And Hinderaker Loves Him Some Luddite, To Lead HHS? Wow.

February 13, 2025February 13, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Hinderaker here rises — to praise… a return to the ways of Theodoric of York, and… bloodletting, as therapy?! But of course he does. Damnation.

And, the irony — the more serious irony — of all this is that it will in all probability be mostly rural, lower education, poorer (mostly whyte) people who suffer/see the brunt of his unscientific views… harm them, and their children.

And these are of course the people who’ve foolishly bought all the Tangerine 2.0 lies. It is still atrocious, but my thesis is that most urban dwelling people of limited means, and many people of color generally, still live in blue zones and blue states. In sum, where state safety nets exist — and real bio-science still holds sway. Here’s a bit from STAT+:

…Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the activist-turned-politician with a long history of embracing anti-scientific views, will become the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Senators voted 52-48 on Thursday to confirm Kennedy to the role. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted against RFK Jr., as did all Democrats….

Wow — what a surreal time (in some respects), indeed as John forgets that Matt Gaetz ever existed, too.

In proof of this, but not relatedly, Danielle R. Sassoon, the interim US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, quit after the Tangerine 2.0 politicos now leading the US Justice Department told her she must dismiss her indicted case against Mayor Adams. Crazy — except that Trump has decided bribes aren’t real crimes at all. Since he’s in that same barrel, but for Chief Justice Roberts’ strange opinion. [Most of America disagrees with him on that.]

Onward — just the same.

नमस्ते

Hey John — These Are The Killers. Your MAGA Boys.

February 13, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

John thinks using the lawful process of litigation / court proceedings is… violence?!

Let’s ask Ashli Babbitt. Oops. Can’t. She’s… dead.

Okay — let’s ask her mom.

You are an a$$.

Out.

Condor’s Advice? Absent Very Unique Conditions, Don’t Accept Trump Buyout Offer.

February 13, 2025February 13, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Obviously, I am not giving individual legal or tax advice here, but my advice boils down to “Why would you trust the man at right?” That’s the gist of it.

Sure, at least one federal judge has said that Trump may make this voluntary offer to federal employees. But based on over 40 years of lived experience (suggesting exactly the opposite), should you accept it, you are simply trusting that Donald Trump is a man of his word. After all, he cons his own least sophisticated supporters (see at right).

Now, if you are independently wealthy, and work the federal job because it is interesting and helps humanity — and you feel like taking the summer vacationing — or are fully vested in the pension and very near the age you were going to retire at in any event, then maybe you don’t have a whole lot to lose from taking a flier on his offer and taking the summer off.

But if you actually need the money to meet your bills week to week, or are thinking you’re going to need to find another job after the severance period is over, there is every reason to believe that at some point over the course of the summer Trump and Musk will stiff you, on this offer. Either a court will order them to halt, or they simply will say that the GOP Congress won’t allow them to pay you the money.

You will be left with a lawsuit against the federal government that may take years to resolve. You are very likely to win that lawsuit, but it will take years to resolve.

Finally, consider that if you do not sign up for the severance offer, you may still very well have a good employment law claim against the federal government for the way in which this nonsense was rolled out. . . and/or administered, even if Trump actually ends up paying all the money the severance has promised.

And so, it is my opinion that unless you are in the one-one-hundredth of one percent of the federal workforce that meets the above limiting factors, I can’t imagine why you would willingly walk away from a good job with very stable benefits — one from which he mostly cannot fire you, without very specific well documented cause.

If anyone reading this post disagrees with me or has other observations or even questions, feel free to put them in the comments (even anonymously) and and I will try to answer them. I genuinely intend this to be helpful to people who may not know the full extent of their rights — as a federal employee.

Onward.

नमस्ते

Judge Nichols Handed Added Counts — In An Amended, Just Filed USAID Complaint, In DC — It Now Adds Oxfam America As A Party…

February 13, 2025February 13, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

USDC Judge Nichols moved his in-court only hearing to today; and overnight, the plaintiffs provided him with a beefed up amended complaint. Here is a redline, to make the changes easy to track.

It adds counts about Oxfam America’s reliance interests on contracts already let through USAID. It recites the actions of Team Musk, in removing the signage from the building in DC — and stranding pregnant US citizens (employees of USAID) in conflict zones in Congo — without access to State Dept. intel — thus endangering their lives. This is deplorable. There is no emergency, here. There is no reason — other than to sow chaos — to rip all this apart in a few hours. Most of all, it ignores the statutes that require such a shuttering to achieved exclusively by a new Act of the Congress. Here’s that newly revised complaint, and a bit:

…Plaintiff Oxfam America is also injured by the disruption and halting of USAID’s work, which is creating an inordinate burden on remaining humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam, whose resources will be significantly overstretched in an attempt to fill the $63 billion void left by USAID. See Ex. A. The agency’s pending closure leaves a massive shortfall that will force Oxfam and other organizations to reallocate funds away from critical programs, allowing it to cover only the most extreme humanitarian disasters. The halt in USAID’s work thus immediately thwarts Oxfam’s mission—and leave scores of children, women, and men living in the world’s most precarious areas without food, water, medicine, education, economic opportunities, or emergency relief from natural disasters and conflicts.

In addition, Oxfam implements programs in close collaboration with its partners including other government entities, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), local and national NGOs, many of which receive USAID funding and are the beneficiaries of USAID’s technical expertise. The freeze on USAID foreign aid is impeding Oxfam’s work on those programs, jeopardizes its projects, and generates pressure on Oxfam to incur additional financial responsibility. Indeed, Oxfam has already been directed to stop work on several projects that rely on USAID as a back donor, including projects for which Oxfam has completed work but has not been compensated….

Onward, into the chilly sunshine — with about five inches of shovelling done; and more to come by Friday night / Saturday morning now. Smile.

नमस्ते

The Rhode Island TRO Has Been Appealed To The First Cir. — There, The Panel Just Issued An Extraordinary Order, DENYING Tangerine 2.0 A Stay Of Any Kind.

February 12, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Honestly, this must be at least a bit like what it felt like, when William Marbury was appointed as a justice of the peace by President John Adams, but didn’t receive his commission before Adams left office. [Marbury sued James Madison, the Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson, for a writ of mandamus to force Madison to deliver the commission.]

That all led to the Marbury v. Madison decision, from the Supremes. That one played out in long-hand, quill penned letters and filings, over the course of months in the courts, while this one is evolving at electron speed, overnight.

Even so, the sound principles of Marbury here apply. This is a bedrock of our checks and balances system: it is for the Congress to do the things Tangerine 2.0 seeks — not his own modern quill-pen. He lacks the power of the purse, utterly. [See Articles I, II and III.] And so — here is an amazingly terse and speedy two page First Circuit (appeal) order — just popped out of the oven. It slaps Tangerine into the dust:

…[Overnight, Team Trump] filed with this Court two motions (contained within a single document) for, respectively, (1) a stay pending appeal, which they ask us to resolve by February 14, 2025, and (2) an administrative stay pending resolution of their motion for a stay pending appeal. The sole motion we address in this order is the motion for an administrative stay.

This Circuit has not addressed whether or when an administrative stay of the sort being requested here may be issued, and there is well-recognized uncertainty as to what standards guide the decision to issue one or not. See United States v. Texas, 144 S. Ct. 797, 798 (2024) (Barrett, J., concurring). Here, the [Tangerine 2.0] defendants have requested a stay pending appeal from the District Court, which has not yet ruled on their motion….

[The Team Tangerine 2.0] defendants do not cite any authority in support of their administrative stay request or identify any harm related to a specific funding action or actions that they will face without their requested administrative stay….

We are confident the District Court will act with dispatch to provide any clarification needed with respect to, among other things, the defendants’ contention that the February 10 Order “bars both the President and much of the Federal Government from exercising their own lawful authorities to withhold funding without the prior approval of the district court.” We note in this regard the plaintiffs’ statement in their Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Administrative Stay Pending Appeal that, consistent with the TRO, the February 10 Order “does not stop defendants from limiting access to funds without any ‘preclearance’ from the district court ‘on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.'” The parties may file any further memoranda in support of their positions on the motion for a stay pending appeal in this court by 5:00 PM on Thursday, February 13, 2025. [DENIED, without prejudice to renew — when properly before the First Circuit]….

The “sturm and drang show” is here in full effect. [And “just like that“, the Chief Judge in the Rhode Island federal district court just clarified at lunch-time that no, Trump cannot violate the existing TRO, whilst the appeal is pending.] Wow — take a seat, Musk & Trump.

नमस्ते

This Is Mostly To Amplify My Last Post’s Thesis — But The NYT Graphic Is So Good, It Deserves Its Own Post.

February 12, 2025February 12, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

I borrow this base graphic, and modify it — to amplify the excellent point the NYT made overnight.

This man is a non-disclosed, unregistered LOBBYIST, in the West Wing — and in the Capitol Rotunda — actively “bending the rules” — and threatening the funding — at dozens of agencies charged with protecting Americans (in many cases, from businessmen like him).

…Whatever you choose to call it, Elon Musk has captured the inner workings of the U.S. government on President Trump’s behalf. His operatives reportedly infiltrated the General Services Administration, gained access to the nation’s system for issuing payments like tax refunds, locked workers out of computer systems at the Office of Personnel Management and strong-armed U.S.A.I.D. into halting humanitarian work across the globe. They have vowed to slash essential research budgets and have put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in their sights…. [As of this morning, the CFPB is 404 / Offline, on the web.]

Republican voters signed up for “The Trump Show: Politics Edition.” Musk is producing and distributing that show, one chaotic bite at a time.

In response to a brutal week for democracy, the Democratic leadership in Congress held a news conference. Chuck Schumer led those gathered in a chant, “We will win,” hands held high with Maxine Waters. Elizabeth Warren did a nice job of explaining what the payments mean to regular people. They framed the takeover of the Treasury Department’s payment system as an unprecedented overreach of power.

But the minority party cannot just chant. It has to act on what isn’t debatable: Trump has deputized [an un-]questionably [unlawful] extra-governmental actor. His mission is not just to dismantle the federal government, but to demoralize it….

It is fast becoming clear that this content-driven chaos is going to be the M.O. of Trump 2.0. Trump may have learned in his first term that there is a political price for not feeding your loyalists enough content. Governance got in the way of the content machine he built on the campaign trail. Since then, he has had four years to refine his strategy. Chaos is central to his deployment of unchecked executive power. But chaos has to be tended like a fire. It needs the right amount of constant oxygen to keep it going….

Do go read it all. It is… depressing, but a needed jolt of… the reality, and the new tactics we of good faith, but opposed to autocracy, need to embrace — to put this fire out, once and for all. Onward.

नमस्ते

As Tangerine 2.0 Attacks NIH, HHS and CDC, The Dangerous Mpox Clade 1b Is Seen In NY State, California And New Hampshire… Ugh.

February 12, 2025February 12, 2025 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Well — the news is poignant and timely, if unwelcome.

All as the unregistered lobbyist and richest man on Earth lets his son pick his nose in the Oval Office — and Tangerine cheers more attempts at slashing at NIH, CMS, HHS, CDC, FDA and USAID… Reuters reports that a single host with Mpox Clade 1b was identified overnight inside New York. Charming.

Several prior cases have been seen in California and in New Hampshire. [And mutating, deadly versions of a bird flu killed a patient last month in Louisiana.] But we don’t need… vaccines, or science — according to Trump, Musk and Kennedy. Damn. Here’s that Reuters item:

…The New York State Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed its first case of the new mpox strain, adding to the global concerns over the spread of the little-known variant.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were three confirmed cases in the country — in California, Georgia and New Hampshire — caused by the clade Ib strain. The agency said the three cases were not linked….

And later last night, Trump hinted he “might look into going after” the federal judges holding him to the commands of our federal statutes (rather than his Black Sharpie scribbles). These are indeed perilous times, for our 240 year experiment in ordered liberty. Onward, just the same — resolutely.

नमस्ते